St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-10-17
VERY DEFT OF HAND.
The Peculiar Attractions Of the Mys-
terious Black Art.
THE OYSTER TRICK EXPOSED.
Howfthe Exposition Magician Amazed
Thousands With His Clever
IL Illusions.

There is one clafs of fun making that
appeals to every breast-t he mysterious
art Of the magician. The grey-heade d,
Specialized, Staid business man gets as
much mixed up and excited as the
veriest romping school boy, let loose
from tasks uncongenial, to his ten-cent
seat in the circus, and even the bare
back rider, his darling hero, is cast into
the shades Of nOthingness, when, with
auStere mien and ASiaStic air, the mas
ter OF the necr0mantic world, with the
magic wand, calls forth the sprites o
the realm over which he holds sway.
The love for the wonderful is univer-
sal phase of character; and of all the
books that delighted us in our child
hood days, none, one could venture to
Fables" and the "Arabian Nights" and
all this from the fact that they TEEN
with the weird imaginings of other
worlds, fairies, genii and gnomes. One
OF the most famous living necrOmancers
has been SOjOurning in our midst the
past few weeks performing at the expo
sltlOn, and in an interesting converse
ton, had with him few days ago, he re-
lated to a GLOBE reporter some valuable
matter in connection with legerdemain,
which will be found embodied in this
article. The one absolute necessity for
a magician, because on it is built the
whole groundwork of his art, is perfect
sObriety-becauSe the work calls for
lightning quickness, and the most MINI
BILE dextricity of brain and hands. Ma
gici ans may be divided into two classes;
there are those who depend On ingen-
lous contrivance, and those who only
rely on finger deXtricity. The latter
are invariably the quickest and best at
the business, for they are available for
more acts. Patience is another charac-
teriStic essential in necrOmancy, be-
cause although the idea of new trick
may come to the performer like flash
of genius, it may take him weary weeks
to study out how to accomplish the
same. One of the most important adj
lnncts to performer is his costume.
The poorer class of tricksters wear big
to assist them, but the better
members of the profession come
out in dress suits, and the
living Hermann has made a new inno-
vation. as he appears in tight-ftting
jerSeJ and depends entirely on finger
deXterity. Prof. Robert Nickle, of
whom this article is written, was born
in Troy, n. Y, and early evinced taste
for the business of which to-day he is
one of the greatest living opponents.
His father was mechanic, and desired
Robert should also become one, but
when he took the boy to see old John
Wyman, the great magician of that day,
in Rand'S hail. of their native town, he
decided his fate, and from that time out
the boy did not do anything but give
little shows in barns and such places.
and he himself was always the central
figure with some new trick that was at
once the delight and wonder of his
young cOnfrereS. 1t was about this
time he got acquainted with the famous
Prof. Anderson (nOw dead, who was
widely known as the Wizard of the
Morrill," because he was ScOtchman
and travelled principally through Canada.
With Anderson Nickle started out as an
assistant, and so well did he profit by his
chances that on the Cd of May, 1860, in
the Brooklyn theater. when only twenty
years old, he made his debut before a
clan. Since then he has traversed the
wide world over, causing amusement
and wonder wherever he has gone.
His first performance in Minneapolis
waslOng, long ago, in 1871, at the Pence
opera house, and the growth and mag
nitude this city has attained, he says,
beats all the legerdemain business he
ever heard of or performed. His ac-
quaintanceShip is naturally large one,
having travelled so extensively over the
world, and includes all his most famous
brother artists in the past decade.
While filling his engagement Zone of
the Philadelphia Centennial exposition,
the idea of his oyster trick. which has
delighted thousands at our own eXpOsi-
ton, came into his head from seeing
funny picture. and in confidential
moment he disclosed the mOduS Oper-
andi of it. First, it must be stated, the
magiclan'S clothes contain twenty-One
pockets. In these pockets are Secreted
the oysters, done up in oil silk bags to
keep them hot; the forks are in another
pocket and the crackers also. Then
hat is borrowed, and without the audi
ence seeing roll of telegraph registry
paper must be got into the hat and then
unrolled in graceful curves on the stage.
The next piece of deXterity is to take
large quantity of paper faom the stage
and by quick motion get big bundle
of forks from the center of the table,
then as the start is made towards the
audience the oysters, unSee n, are trans
ferred from the pockets and smilingly
brought forth from the hat, to the de-
light and amazement of all
the immense audiences who have
witnessed this wonderful trick.
Then by deXterity a handful of crackers
has to lay in his palm unseen by the
audience, and this has to come out of
the hair of some one i'm the attendance.
The pickle act from the nose is also
done by wonderful dexterity and moth
ing else, once more proving the old sa v
ing, the hand is so much quicker
than the eye. Mr.. Nickle has often a
good deal of fun playing tricks on the
street and has on many occasions non
plusSed police officers and conductors.
Market people are great sport to him,
and often is the occasion he has cut
chickens head off in a market, had
long fight with the poulterer, and then
to the utter amaZement of the latter,
has replaced the head again.
Robert Nickel is now in the prime of
life, splendid specimen of manhood
and giving promise by the yearly i'm
prOvement in his profession to soon at
tain to the very highest point as an
artist in his class.
While in Minneapolis he has given de-
light to thousands and it is with very
sincere regret his many admirers will
Learn of his near departure from the
city, but he can console himself, know
ing that he only goes to give pleasure to
iJpl1c mora v,bn boua not cao,, him,